Identification-button



(No Model.)

M. A. D. HARRIS.

IDENTIFICATION BUTTON.

No. 602,446. Patented Apr. 19, 1898.

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llnirnn STATES PATENT @rricn.

MARVIN A. D. HARRIS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IDENTIFICATION-BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,446, dated. April 19, 1898.

Application filed April 24, 1897. Serial No. 633,6 70. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARVIN A. D. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing in Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Identification-Buttons, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to supply a small receptacle to be worn more or less conspicuously upon the clothing, adapted to contain the name and address of the wearer, with such other information as will lead to his identification and to the discovery and notification of his friends in case of accident or sudden illness.

The body of the button is hollow and is provided with a cap or cover screwed or otherwise separably fastened thereon. The cavity within the body and cap is sufficient to receive a folded slip of thin tough paper, on which is written the desired matter. A retaining means is provided within the cavity, reliably holding the folded slip against accidental displacement, so that it cannot drop out and be lost when the cap is removed. A number or other mark placed on one of the walls of the cavity corresponds to a similar mark on the slip and serves to connect the two, so that in case the slip be separated from the button, and perhaps in the excitement attending the accident be mixed with other like slips, each may be easily returned to the button from which it was taken and mistakes avoided.

It frequently happens in railroad disasters and other accidents that persons are lost to their friends for long periods through the lack of the necessary information reaching the police or hospital attendants. Papers which might serve as a means of identification become mingled with similar papers taken from other sufferers and are therefore almost useless, and business and visiting cards are usually carried in card-cases and pocket-books also containing money, and are often, by reason of theft, missing from the helpless person when search is made for means of establishing the identity. By the use of my invention the required information is easily found, and the button, being of no intrinsic value, is not likely to be stolen. The identification-slip can always be traced to its button, and so long as the latter and article of clothing to which it is attached are upon the person the identification is assured.

The device is simple and inexpensive, it may be made in ornamental and attractive designs, and may carry the emblem of any society or fraternal organization of which the wearer is a member.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification and represent the manner in which I have carried out the invention.

Figure 1 is a side view showing the button attached to a portion of a garment. Fig. 2 is a face view. Fig. 3 is a corresponding section. Fig. 4 is a face view with the cap removed, showing the folded slip and its retaining means. Fig. 5 is a similar view with the slip and retaining means taken away to show the identification number or mark. Fig. 6 is a face view of the slip unfolded and extended, bearing a similar number and mark.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

The main portion or body of the button is marked A. It is circular in form and screwthreaded on the exterior to match to and receive the threads on the interior of a cap or cover B. The latter is screwed tightly home and is seated by close contact with the annular flange A on the body and makes a water-tight joint therewith. A tubular shank A extends axially from the rear face of the body to be received in the buttonhole or other perforation in the garment and be held therein by the flange or follower A securely fastened to the body A by the engagement of the screw-threaded stud A with the interiorlythreaded shank A The body A is hollowed to produce a considerable cavity a therein, serving as a receptacle for the closely-folded slip M of thin tough paper or parchment, (shown extended in Fig. 6,) on which, in the spaces shown, is written the name and address of the wearer, the business or occupation, the business address, and the names and addresses of friends or relatives to be notified in case the person is through illness or accident unable to supply the information, with any other matter likely to afford means of identification. The

folded strip fits snugly into the cavity a and is securely retained therein by the cover B.

A fastener G, of soft brass or other pliable material, cut to the form shown and folded upon itself at c o, is inserted in the folded or partially-folded condition within the cavity and serves in holding the slip M, placed beneath its free ends O 0, against dropping out when the cover is removed. The parts are so proportioned that the fastener requires the use of a little force in inserting it into the cavity and is reliably held therein by the frictional contact of its angles with the walls.

D is a disk of cardboard or paper cemented or otherwise undetachably fixed upon the interior bottom face of the body A before the insertion of the fastener O and its folded slip M. It bears on its outer face a private mark or an arbitrary sign, as a letter or numeral D, corresponding to a similar sign M, placed within the circle ll 2 on the top of the slip M, and

limits Without departing from the principle of the invention or sacrificing its advantages.

The body and cap may be of any suitable material and may be joined by other means than the screw-threads shown, and the shank and follower may be in one with the body or be detachably secured thereto by any wellknown or approved locking means.

Parts of the invention may be used without the whole. I can dispense with the disk D or substitute other holding means for the fastener O and place the arbitrary mark or number directly upon the body A. I prefer the whole as here shown and described.

I claim- In a button, the body A having the cavity a, and the flexible fastener 0 set therein and having the free ends 0, Oadapted to be folded upon and hold an identification-slip M, in combination with a removable cap B matching to said body and tightly closing said cavity, and means for detachably securing said body to a garment, all substantially as herein specified.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I affix my'signature in presence of two Witnesses.

MARVIN A. D. HARRIS.

lVitnesses:

RoBr. CONNOR, GEO. WARREN CASE. 

